


Art and Science

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: I love platonic Ladynoir, rated T to be safe because of a risque joke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 07:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "There you go with the mixed messages again." He mumbled angstily."Sure, Cat, go sulk and sing a Christmas song about it. You knew that wasn't what I meant."
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Art and Science

"You understand physics?" Ladybug gaped at him.   
He laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. You don't have to be so surprised about it."  
"I'm not - I mean, I just wasn't expecting it. Not that I ever thought that you weren't smart! You just, uh..."  
"Don't act like much of a nerd? Trust me, Bugaboo, this cat's too cool for school."  
Ladybug put her face into her hands, sighing loudly. "That wasn't even a pun..."  
He brightened immediately. "You like my puns?"  
"What? No. They're not funny." She assured him.   
He pouted as Ladybug glanced up at him, shaking her head. "Do you like physics? I doubt your school teaches something like that to people our age. I mean, you're fourteen, right? I've kind of just always assumed..."  
"I look older than I am." He paused to obnoxiously appreciate his muscles, confused when she groaned and turned away. She stared at models on billboards all the time - he thought that she was into that sort of thing. "I'm also good at science."  
Ladybug grimaced as she stared down at the ground. "If you make an anatomy joke, I will kill you."  
He paused to backtrack through the conversation. How was science even related to ana - oooh. His face burned as he stepped back. "I wasn't trying - I was just talking! You really don't think I'd say something like that, do you? I just make funny puns."  
"That last sentence is debatable. And, I don't know - I don't really hang around guys that often. Or at all." She laughed awkwardly before springing to her feet, slightly panicked. "I-I shouldn't have said that."  
"I like you better when you act like a person. You're more down-to-earth that way." He replied, and he was sure his eyes were shining with admiration, because Ladybug looked uncomfortable again. He dropped his gaze. "Sorry. I just..."  
"I'm just...uncomfortable. With crushes, love, all of it." She crossed her arms. "I just want to do my job."  
"Do you not like me?"  
"Of course I like you! What, do you think I keep you around for your hilarious puns?" She smiled at him before seeing his ecstatic expression. "Please don't take that seriously."  
"I think that you secretly like them." He grinned triumphantly.  
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure. And I wouldn't tell you that I liked them why?"  
"You don't tell me lots of stuff." He started counting on his fingers. "Your secret identity, where you go to school - I wasn't even sure how old you were until today."  
"That's to protect us and you know it. Your deranged fantasy about us being together - I can't take it in my civilian life, too."  
"There you go with the mixed messages again." He mumbled angstily.  
"Sure, Cat, go sulk and sing a Christmas song about it. You knew that wasn't what I meant."  
"But I don't know! I don't know anything. I just... want to know more about you."  
"You never tell me anything about you."  
"I didn't know that you wanted to know!"  
"I don't! Look, why don't you tell me anything about you?"  
"Because it would make you uncomfortable..." He mumbled, withdrawing into himself.  
Something in her eyes softened. He hoped that it wasn't pity. "I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I just don't like being mad at you. And...the crush stuff gets on my nerves sometimes. But I shouldn't get mad...I know that you can't help yourself." Her tone sounded wistful, and for the hundredth time he wondered why she sounded like she knew what she was talking about when it came to crushes - or not at all, depending on the situation.   
"I have no idea why you think flirting for the thousandth time is going to work." She shook her head fondly.   
"Hey, who knows?" He grinned at her. "Maybe I'll try something different. You're into math, too, right? Geometry and stuff?"  
"What? I hate math. Why would I be into it?"  
"You use angles...when you're fighting."  
She laughed. "Maybe, but not angles you can map with a protractor. It's more like...lines that I draw, in the sky."  
"Lines? You mean art?" He fought a disgusted look. Creativity was never his; he never created anything for himself. His piano songs were regimented, and he didn't understand people who could write their own songs. Father controlled him; he could never do anything that he wanted to do.  
The only time he could say what was on his mind was in that poem to Ladybug...or when he was talking to her, of course.  
Her expression brightened. "I love art." She breathed, and, just for a second, she looked like a completely different person. He smiled softly, picturing Ladybug drawing, completely relaxed and at peace. No akumas, no job to be done...just her, and endless ideas and time to pursue them.   
Then the serious glint in her eyes appeared, and she was gone. "You didn't answer my question, earlier."  
"Uh..." He struggled to think of which one.   
"Do you like physics?"  
"No." He admitted quietly. "Not really. I much prefer sitting and talking with you."  
Ladybug looked worried, and that made him uncomfortable. "This is why I don't like telling you anything about me. You get worried. Do you think I'm not fine?" He grandiosely outstretched his arms.   
She smiled, but it looked tepid. "I feel like you act like you're fine."  
"Nope. We're not doing this right now. I just wanted to talk to you about particle physics." He babbled.   
She stared straight into his eyes. He gulped.  
"Are you getting hurt? In any way - it doesn't have to be physical."  
The concern in her eyes physically hurt him. He couldn't say yes. It wasn't that bad. Father was just strict, and hurting, and not dealing with his mother's death that well. He was allowed to be mad sometimes, wasn't he? Father wasn't hurting anyone.  
"I'm fine." The concern didn't go away, so he tested his hand on hers. "I promise."  
She didn't look completely convinced, but nodded. "If you say so."  
"Oh, would you look at the time." He laughed awkwardly. "I've gotta go!"  
He was away before Ladybug could ask what was wrong with him. Maybe she was onto something with not revealing too much of her civilian life.  
It made things easier. 


End file.
